Good movie but grossly overrated

Fantastic!

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This was a good adaptation of the John Grisham novel. Tom Cruise gives a good turn as Mitch, a recent law school grad about to take his bar exam and get a job in prestigious Memphis law firm. However, his dream job soon turns into a nightmare when he learns of some rather dark secrets the firm has-like what happens to the lawyers and "recruits" when one of the partners takes them on "business trips" to the Cayman Islands, something Mitch is about to go on. Things start to spiral downwards as they use one of his family secrets and other things against him.This movie features a good story, a great cast, decent suspense, and good performances. Fans of John Grisham will like this.*** out of ****

Tom Cruise has the look of a young hot-shot lawyer so he fills the Bill as a new graduate who is sought after by some of the biggest firms in the country. He ends up joining a small but very successful firm. He does this because he feels this is a path to great success in the future. When a couple young lawyers are killed, it leads to the discovery that something is amiss. Soon Cruise gets in the middle of two forces, either of which could destroy his career. One is the FBI and the other is the firm itself. The key to this is how he can separate himself from the firm without disastrous results. John Grisham is a master storyteller and his books really translate well into films. This is no exception. There are times when I really find Cruise annoying, but mostly I think he is quite a good actor.

A hotshot young lawyer named Mitch (Tom Cruise ... who else would Hollywood cast as a hotshot?) accepts a job with a small law firm in Memphis, only to become trapped in a nightmarish maze of deceit and corruption. The plot has Mitch a little slow to catch on, but when he does he draws upon inner cleverness he previously lacked to set a trap himself.The script has several problems, not the least of which is Mitch's naivete when accepting the job. He tells his wife Abby (Jeanne Tripplehorn): "These are nice people, Abby". Turns out that Abby is more perceptive about these "nice people" than her high-income, hotshot hubby. The plot's first half is pretty good, with fine editing; the second half trends labyrinthine with tangled and convoluted plot elements that make the film hard to follow.Fast-paced, outdoor "action" towards the end is unrealistic and makes the film overly long. Most of the characters consist of annoying "beautiful people", hip, sophisticated, and rich; I was hoping most of them would die.Production values are terrific. Great on-location filming in Memphis is enhanced by polished outdoor photography. Interior sets look detailed and realistic. Nice, jazzy score if perhaps a bit loud. Casting is credible, though someone other than Tom Cruise might have brought more plausibility to the lead role. Performances overall add to a sense of professionalism. Hal Holbrook is always fun to watch. And I really liked Holly Hunter's performance as a two-bit smoking secretary with a heavy Southern drawl.Slick and sophisticated, "The Firm" was made during an era when audiences were still mesmerized with American wealth and corruption. It's a polished, perhaps too polished, production. Overall, the movie does have entertainment value despite an imperfect script.

I am a huge John Grisham fan, but I never cared much for The Firm. I finally decided to watch it as part of a paper for my film class, because as the first adaptation of a Grisham novel, it was important to the paper, but I still can't explain why it was the first novel they decided to turn into a movie. The story follows a younger lawyer who is graduating at the top of his Harvard Law class. As the offers pour in, he has a tough decision to make, and finally settles on a small Nashville firm, that has made him an offer that is too good to be true. As he starts working for The Firm, Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) comes to realize that their only client is an organized crime syndicate and he's trapped inside. Eventually, the FBI comes to McDeere and tries to recruit him as a whistle blower, and his response is somewhat unorthodox. What I never understood about this story is why McDeere went to the lengths he did. He could have achieved the same outcome by simply complying with one side or the other. He jumps through all these hoops and does all these secretive things in order to achieve the same outcome. To me, this always made the second half of the book and film to be pretty much pointless. Tom Cruise stars and shines in the type of role that defined his early career. At this point in his career, if Tom Cruise is not starring as a dark loner or a sci-fi action hero, there isn't any point to watching his movies, but back in the early 90s he really had that special spark that has garnered him the reputation he has today. Cruise was paired with Gene Hackman, making the perfect dynamic of the old star, turning things over to the new. It was a bold move that didn't work out so well for the Indiana Jones franchise, but here it was one of the most interesting things about this film. The acting is terrific and a Grisham film is always very clever and well written, but as I said I've never been a fan of The Firm. The second half of the story just doesn't sit right with me and I'll continue to say it no matter how good the cast is.